Mondo Esoterica Boxset Mini-Reviews


Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand (1966)

 Rod Cameron stars one of the last Karl May Westerns. UFA German R0 boxset disc, no English options.
 


The Film in brief:

Storyline Summary:Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and his sister are attacked by bandits lead by a man named Silers - they only escape thanks to the help of Jason Waade, known as Old Firehand. Later at the town of Miramonte, Winnetou and Old Firehand find Silers again as he tries to free his brother from the town jail. After their plan goes badly wrong, Silers and his gang attack the town with exploding wagons and Old Firehand and Winnetou have to save the day...
Notes:
  • Winnetou and his Friend Old Firehand (1966) is not actually based on a novel by Karl May, although the Old Firehand character was invented by Karl May for his original Treasure at Silver Lake.
  • The elaborate spectacle of the earlier Karl May Westerns has been replaced here with a grimmer feel - more in keeping with the newly popular Spaghetti Westerns from Italy and Spain.
Anyone famous in it? No-one of note.
Directed by anyone interesting? Alfred Vohrer - director of a couple of the other Karl May Westerns, but nothing else of note.



The DVD

Visuals Original Aspect Ratio  - 2.35:1 anamorphic wide-screen. Colour.
The image is very good - with some noticable grain, but great colours and detail. 
Audio German 5.1 and mono. Strong audio. The remix is quite good with use made of the surround channels.
Subtitles German HOH
Extras The disc includes:
  • Bonus Trailer reel (same as other discs)
  • Original trailers for the films in the boxset, including English language trailer for 'Silver Lake'
  • An interview/documentary piece about the three films (22 minutes) in German only.
  • 4 contemporary newsreels/television reports about the films, including interview with the series producer Horst Wendlandt and some interesting behind-the-scenes footage. With German audio only, but plenty to look at. (total 5 minutes).
  • Interactive film quiz (?) in German only.
  • Photo galleries for all three films - manual scrolling.
Packing Only available in the Karl May Collection 1 boxset.
Region Region 0 (worldwide) - PAL
Other regions? Other German releases from Kinowelt - no English options.
Cuts? The film is believed to be fully uncut. Titles and credits are in German.

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All text in this review written by Timothy Young - 20th November 2006.
Text from this review not to be used without authorization.

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